Taylor & Chase's Thanksgiving Thursday Dinner Inspired by MIA200

Arroz con Pollo de Rosalia

This recipe is easy to make in large quantities. You can easily double the recipe. The basic recipe feeds 6-8 people with normal servings.

I personally use boneless chicken breast. It’s easier and if you have a gas outdoor grill, you can grill the chicken and it cuts down on the prep time.

The recipe gets finished in the oven so that the rice ends up soft and a little soupy. So, you need to use pots that: (a) fit in the oven and (b) that you can cover (even if its with foil).

The recipe calls for Valencia short grain rice. You should be able to find that. If not use Arborio (the Italian rice used in risotto).

I once compared this recipe (which mostly comes from a book called Memories of a Cuban Kitchen) to my grandmother’s handwritten recipe. It’s virtually identical and tastes the same as grandma’s.

Recipe Ingredients

• 3 pounds of chicken (I use boneless chicken breasts).

• 2 teaspoons salt (kosher or sea salt preferred)

• Freshly ground pepper to taste

• Juice of one lime

• ½ cup pure Spanish olive oil

• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped (a lot of grocery stores sell already chopped onions)

• 1 medium sized green bell pepper (a lot of grocery stores sell already chopped onions)

• 3 to 4 garlic cloves minced (I usually use 5 or 6)

• 1 small can tomato sauce ; about 1 cup

• ¼ cup diced drained pimientos (usually comes in a small glass jar at store and their red)

• 1 teaspon ground cumin

• 1 bay leaf (in spice aisle at store)

• ½ cup dry white wine --- Try to use cooking wine (which is white wine with some salt added for flavor), preferably a spanish or latin brand.

• 5 cups of chicken stock (Swansons sells it; look in the soup aisle)

• One 14 oz package Valencia rice (it’s a short grain rice); if not 1 ½ cup Arborio (soak the rick for up to 1 hour if you can in cold water to cover the rice with 3 saffron threads – crushed- or ½ teaspoon powdered saffron (available in the spice aisle)

• ¼ teaspoon additional powdered saffron or 3 to 4 saffron threads, crushed

• 1 cup (small can) canned early sweat peas, I prefer the LeSueur brand it’s a silver can)

1. Wash the chicken, pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt pepper and lime juice. (I then cook on the gas bbq which takes like 20 min; if not you can do step 2.

2. [Skip if you grill the chicken] In a large, heavy casserole (pot) over medium heat, heat ¼ cup of the oil until it is fragrant. Then brown the chicken 6 to 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken and set it aside.

3. [If you use boneless chicken breasts] I like to chop up the chicken into chunks before putting it back into the recipe (below). Easier to eat and the chicken soaks up more flavor.

4. add remaining ¼ cup olive oil (so a total of ½ cup in the pot) and add the onion bell peppers and garlic, stirring until the onion is transparent (recipe says 6 to 8 minutes, I think it usually takes a couple of minutes longer). Add the tomato sauce, pimientos, cumin and bay leaf and cook, stirring for 5 minutes. Then add the chicken and mix well so it is all covered. If able to... add wine here. Mix and cook 5 minutes to let the alcohol cook off.

5. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Adjust the seasonings (i.e. add salt and pepper). Don’t be afraid or shy with the salt, the rice will absorb the salt later on. So this mixture (called a “sofrito” should be salty to the taste).

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drain the rice that has been soaking. If it is not yellow add the additional saffron (I always do anyway). Add the drained rice and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, I lower the heat a bit to medium high. The rice should boil uncovered for about 20 – 25 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and the top of the rice looks like there are little craters in it. You don’t need to stir this too much, but I like to stir it every 5 min or so, just so the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

7. Remove from the heat, add ¾ cup of the peas cover and put in the oven. Cook til the rice is tender about 20 minutes. (You can do this step on top of the stove over medium heat, but the rice cooks better and becomes more tender I the even heat of the oven. This is especially true if you double the recipe to feed a larger group).

8. Remove from oven and stir. At this point you can put on a serving platter and garnish with more peas and some of the chopped pimientos. Or you can serve on the plates.